Burglary victim backs plan for police HQ in village

CONTROVERSY: An artist’s impression of the new North Yorkshire Police headquarters

A BURGLARY victim has spoken out in favour of plans to site North Yorkshire Police’s headquarters in a village near Thirsk, saying it could serve to lower crime in the village.

Jane Kendall said she had been devastated by a pre-meditated raid on her home in October and the force’s proposal to build a base for its 550 staff in an 8.4-acre field between the A61 and A19 in South Kilvington, along with a custody suite and operational facilities, would make the village a safer place to live.

She said: “If the police are around the corner it might deter burglars from returning.

“A lot of the villagers that I have spoken to are for the new headquarters or do not mind either way.

“Unfortunately, these peoples’ voices are never heard and have no wish to attend meetings.”

Mrs Kendall, who runs a car service and bodyshop business in the village, said she believed the headquarters would serve to boost the village economy and improve employment prospects.

Residents battling the scheme said while they respected a range of views about the scheme in the village, they believed the majority of villagers did not want the base being sited in South Kilvington.

An exit poll conducted by a village action group outside a public exhibition to explain the proposals last month, found of the 140 people who attended, 126 were opposed to the proposal.

Campaigner Mick Lynas said those battling the scheme had been upset by their placards and banner being vandalised last week.

He said: “Everyone has the freedom to voice their opinion, but what happened to the banner was very disrespectful.

“We don’t want to sit back and wait for this to happen, but we have got to the point where we need to know if they are going to go ahead with the plan in South Kilvington.”